ENplus Briquettes. Certification of Wood Briquettes For the End-user Market. Manual for the. According to European Standard EN

Transcription

1 ENplus Briquettes Manual for the Certification of Wood Briquettes For the End-user Market According to European Standard EN V 1.0, January 2013

2 Publisher: Deutsches Pelletinstitut GmbH (DEPI) Neustädtische Kirchstr Berlin Contact: info@depi.de

3 Content 1 Background and Goal Normative references Definitions of Terms Certifcation System Overview Requirements for Certified Companies Requirements for Production Facilities Requirements for Trading Companies Application Reporting Obligations Certified production facilities Certified trading companies Certification Seal Product Declaration Auditing and Inspections System of Sanctions Product Quality Origin of Raw Material Essential properties Trace Elements Shape Sustainability Requirements Schedule of Fees Annex 1: Examples for the Product Declaration (Inlet)

4 1 BACKGROUND AND GOAL The goal of the ENplus Briquettes certification program is to secure the supply with standardised high-quality wood briquettes for end-users that can be fired in solid fuel ovens without disturbances and with low emissions. ENplus Briquettes certifies the quality classes ENplus A1 and ENplus A2 that meet the requirements of the European standard EN ( Solid biofuels fuel specifications and classes - wood briquettes for non-industrial use 1 ) and in some cases even go further. In order to ensure a constant high quality of the distributed briquettes, the manufactured briquettes as well as the production and logistics processes are examined through this program. The program is designed as a group certification, similar to that of the ENplus pellet certification in Germany, which includes production as well as trading. However, trade of briquettes in Germany has structural differences when compared with the trading of pellets. Wood briquettes are packaged at the producer onto pallets and then shipped to the traders. When compared to lose products, as is common in the pellets sector, the risk for a quality reduction in the distribution chain diminishes substantially. An accidental mixing of batches from different producers is impossible. Through the information on the inlet in the small casks, the origin of the briquettes is traceable. The ENplus Briquettes certification program is designed to enable smaller producers of briquettes, who at present only have limited resources for the certification procedure, to enter the market. For this reason, the certification system allows that wood briquettes from non-certified producers may be certified by a trading company (importer or wholesale trader). Wood briquettes can be traded as certified products only if at least the producer or one trader in the supply chain is certified. The certification system defines the following essential points: Requirements for the production of wood briquettes and quality assurance Requirements for the raw material and product properties Requirements for labeling and packaging Specifications for internal quality management guarantee that the product requirements are maintained permanently. Requirements for technical facilities, operation procedures and documentation are defined, which make the operation processes transparent and should lead to a quick locating and solving of errors and problems. The wording of these specifications was based on ISO 9001 and the European standard EN The independence of the certification program is guaranteed through the involvement of an accredited certification body according to ISO Non-industrial use refers to fuel destined for use in smaller heating installation, e.g. in households, commercial spaces and public buildings. 2

5 2 NORMATIVE REFERENCES EN : Solid biofuels Determination of moisture content Oven dry method Part 1: Total moisture Reference method EN : Solid biofuels Determination of moisture content Oven dry method Part 2: Total moisture - Simplified procedure EN 14775: Solid biofuels Determination of ash content EN 14778: Solid biofuels Sampling EN 14780: Solid biofuels Sample preparation EN 14918: Solid biofuels Determination of calorific value EN : Solid biofuels Fuel specification and classes Part 1: General requirements EN : Solid biofuels Fuel specification and classes Part 3: Wood briquettes for non-industrial use EN15104: Solid biofuels Determination of total content of carbon, hydrogen and nitrogen Instrumental method EN 15289: Solid biofuels Determination of total content of sulphur and chlorine EN 15297: Solid biofuels Determination of minor elements As, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Hg, Mn, Mo, Ni, Pb, Sb, V und Zn EN : Solid biofuels Fuel quality assurance Part 1: General requirements EN : Solid biofuels Fuel quality assurance Part 3: Wood briquettes for non-industrial use EN 16127: Solid biofuels Determination of length and diameter for pellets and cylindrical briquettes EN 14588: Solid biofuels Terminology, definitions and description ISO alpha-2: Codes for the representation of names of countries and their subdivisions ISO 9001: Quality Management Systems Requirements ISO/IEC 17020: Conformity assessment - Requirements for the operation of various types of bodies performing inspection ISO/IEC 17025: General requirements for the competence of testing and calibration laboratories ISO/IEC 17065: Conformity assessment -- Requirements for bodies certifying products, processes and services 3

6 3 DEFINITIONS OF TERMS Group certification: A central unit, here called system support organisation, inspects the other group members, called certified companies to see if both, the product and processes meet the requirements of the certification program ENplus Briquettes. The activities of the system support organisation are inspected by the certification body. System support organisation: The system support organisation organizes the certification program and inspects the compliance with the regulations described in this handbook. The system support organisation is inspected by an independent, accredited certification body. Certification body: The certification body ensures the independence of the certification system and inspects the processes. It meets the requirements of ISO/IEC and is accredited by a member of the European Co-operation for Accreditation (EA) or has a recognition arrangement with the EA. Listed inspection body: The inspection body commissioned with the inspection of the certified company is accredited according ISO/IEC Inspection bodies have to be licensed by the system support organisation. Listed testing body: The testing bodies, commissioned by the system support organisation for the analysis of certified briquettes are accredited according to ISO/IEC Certified company: Certified companies are companies that produce or trade wood briquettes and have a binding contract with the system support organisation to comply with the regulations of the certification program ENplus Briquettes. They were certified according to the regulations of this handbook. In this handbook, certified producers and certified trading companies are distinguished. Reported traders: Certified trading companies have to report to the system support organisation on the traders to which they sell the certified briquettes and who in turn supply them to the end-user. Registered producers: Certified trading companies have to register the non-certified producers whose products they want to trade as certified briquettes with the system support organisation. Small casks: A small cask is the smallest packaged unit for sale with a weight of 5 to 20 kg. 4

7 4 CERTIFCATION SYSTEM 4.1 Overview The certification program ENplus Briquettes is organised as a group certification. The system support organisation of ENplus Briquettes is the German Pellet Institute (DEPI). The certification body is the PCU Deutschland GmbH, member of the Control Union World Group. The essential contents of the certification system are: Inspection and confirmation of the conformity of wood briquettes with the requirements of the European standard EN Requirements for the in-house quality management (operation facilities and procedures, documentation duties, in-house quality control) Requirements regarding labeling and packaging Certification procedure and external controls, licensing and withdrawal of the licence, complaint management and error handling. The certification program ENplus Briquettes allows two different options for certification, where either the trading company (generally the importer or the wholesale trader) or the briquette producer is certified. Figure 1 Certification options for trading companies and briquette producers 5

8 Option 1: Certification with inspections in trade An importer or trading company applies for certification. He reports all relevant information about the production plants from which he gets his briquettes (registered producers), as well as the traders to which he sells the products, to the DEPI. For each production plant the certified trader sends in a sample (small cask) to the DEPI. During the annual inspection the DEPI takes a sample from one of the reported traders (sales point), which is then analysed by a listed testing body. Option 2: Certification with inspections of the producer The producer applies for certification. He reports all relevant information about his production plants to the system support organisation. In addition, he has to provide an inspection report from each production plant. The inspections will be carried out each year. Additionally, briquette samples will also be taken from the traders. 4.2 Requirements for Certified Companies Wood briquettes can be traded as certified Briquettes only if at least the producer or one trading company in the supply chain is certified. The certified company guarantees the compliance with the requirements for production facilities described in clause 4.3. Certified companies have to meet the following requirements: The management of the certified company appoints an experienced employee as quality manager. He is responsible for quality control and the contact partner in all quality-related matters. He develops the quality assurance system for the monitoring of conformity of the products according to the provisions in 5.1, 5.2, 5.3 and 5.4 and he manages the internal documentation. The quality manager can delegate monitoring and documentation tasks to other employees. In this case he has to brief the concerned employees and monitor the proper execution. Certified trading companies report to the system support organisation a minimum of 5 (five) of the traders to which they supply certified briquettes. Certified briquettes can only be traded by a certified trading company if the briquettes come from a registered production. The certified company commits the buyer to properly store the supplied briquettes (protection against moisture) 4.3 Requirements for Production Facilities The requirements for production facilities of certified wood briquettes are based on the requirements of the European standard EN Solid biofuels Fuel quality assurance Part 3: Wood briquettes for non-industrial use. The following requirements apply to certified as well as to registered production facilities: The management of the certified company appoints an experienced employee as quality control representative. He is responsible for quality control and the contact partner in all quality-related matters. 6

9 The company has to have suitable technical facilities for production, shipping and packaging of high quality briquettes. The functioning and conditions must be regularly checked. When receiving raw materials from new suppliers, the suitability for its use in briquettes production has to be controlled (goods inward inspection). Contaminations of raw materials before the briquetting by substances such as soil, stones and grain, as well as contaminations of the manufactured briquettes must also be excluded. Processing areas, silos and conveyer equipment must be regularly checked for soiling and, if necessary, cleaned. In the case of malfunctions in the production process it must be checked which quantities of defective briquettes had been produced up until the malfunction was noticed. These briquettes must be properly labelled and stored separately. They must not be traded as certified products. After repair and maintenance work the produced briquettes must undergo an inhouse quality inspection. At least two times per shift and press, at least every fifth pallet must be checked whether the weight of the small casks corresponds with the label of the packaging. The delivery of certified briquettes to trading companies shall be made exclusively on pallets with sufficient size for the stack weight. During transport, the pallets must be secured with tension belts to prevent them from falling over. The legal requirements for traffic safety must be observed. The briquettes must not absorb any water, e.g. through contact with rain or snow. Condensate formation is to be excluded as far as possible. The quality of the produced briquettes must be checked regularly for compliance with the requirements listed in 5.1, 5.4 and 5.2. Moisture and raw density of the produced briquettes must be checked at least once a day. Scheduling of samples must be made. Execution and results of the inspections must be documented. 4.4 Requirements for Trading Companies The requirements for trading companies of certified wood briquettes are based on the requirements of the European standard EN Solid biofuels Fuel quality assurance Part 3: Wood briquettes for non-industrial use. The following requirements apply to both certified as well as registered trading companies: During transport and storage the products must be prevented from shifting. This is attained by storage on proper-sized pallets. During transport, pallets have to be secured with tensions belts to remain in a stable position. The respective legal requirements must be followed. When stacking pallets, a deformation of the briquettes must be excluded. 7

10 Pallets with certified briquettes must not be exposed to external environment or have to be properly protected. In any case, water absorption must be prevented. 4.5 Application In the application, all relevant information must be given. The application documents must be submitted in totality and legally valid signed (see also chapter 4.6 and application form). 4.6 Reporting Obligations The reporting of all relevant information occurs for the first time when submitting the application. Changes of suppliers and buyers must be reported to the system support organisation at the end of the respective quarter (Deadlines: March 31 st, June 30 th, September 30 th, and December 31 st ). Changes in the characteristics mentioned in 5.1, 5.2, 5.3 and 5.4 (origin of raw material, quality class, shape, dimensions, as well as type & quantity of the used pressing aids/additives/agents) must be immediately reported to the system support organisation Certified production facilities A certified production facility with annual inspection must report the following information to DEPI: Contact information of the certified company Contact information of production facility/facilities Origin of the wood raw material Percentage of FSC/PEFC-certified wood raw material Quality class and shape of the certified briquettes (according to EN ) Type of the raw material storage Type of the briquette storage Quantity, type & power of the presses Process description (according to EN ) Size and type of the storage Annual production volume by quality class and shape of briquettes Production facilities can also report the trading companies and sales points to which they supply their briquettes. The traders will be listed with their sales point on the web pages and and are retrievable for consumers through a zip code search. 8

11 4.6.2 Certified trading companies A certified trading company with sampling in trade reports: Contact information of the certified company Contact information of the producers, from which the products originate (registered producer) Information on briquette production for each registered producer, according to the requirements for certified production plants mentioned in At least five buyers. If the buyers are intermediaries, reporting of the subnegotiator is also necessary. This reporting may be done by the intermediary. Annual trade volume In addition, each certified company must submit a sample (small cask) to the DEPI, for the first time with the application, afterwards on an annual basis (Deadline December 31 st ). DEPI will take samples from the briquettes of the small cask to do burning tests. The results will be incorporated into the recommendations for filling ovens (see 0). Traders can also report further intermediaries and sales points. Traders will be listed with their sales point on the web pages and and are retrievable for consumers through a zip code search. 4.7 Certification Seal The certification seal consists of the ENplus Briquettes logo and a unique ENplus ID. The ENplus ID is made up of the country code of the certified company (according to ISO 3166), a three-digit consecutive registration number and one digit for the particular production facility. The registration numbers 001 through 300 in each country will be assigned to producers with annual inspections, numbers 301 through 999 to companies that have chosen sampling from trade. The ENplus Briquettes logo must have a minimum height of 20 mm. An essential part of the certification seal is the identification number of the certified production plant or of the certified trading company (see Fehler! Verweisquelle konnte nicht gefunden werden.). The height of the identification number must not be smaller than one fifth of the height of the seal and must have a minimum height of 4 mm (Arial font size 12). It has to be placed close to the seal. Exceptions to this are subject to approval from the system support organisation. Figure 2 Certification seal for quality class ENplus A1 briquettes (example of a German producer) 9

12 The ENplus ID must be placed on all relevant documentation (e.g. invoice, delivery notes), as well as the indication of quality class (ENplus A1, ENplus A2). In order to trace the origin of a small cask, the individual certification seal must be printed on the inlet (see Figure 5 and Figure 6). 4.8 Product Declaration The following information must be printed in the language of the destination country where the briquettes are to be sold, on the inlet of each small cask (Model see Annex): Product description Wood briquettes, with the respective quality class (ENplus A1, ENplus A2, EN-B) Certification seal Weight (in kg) of the small cask Note: Briquettes must be stored in a dry environment Note: Use only in approved and suitable firing installations. Please follow the legal requirements and the safety notes of the producer of the firing installation. Information for the correct filling of the oven. In a field test, the optimal filling volume for the oven or the equivalent in (beech-) logs for each type of briquettes will be determined. The certified company prints a corresponding note, as prescribed by the DEPI, on the inlet. Figure 3 Symbol for the correct filling of the oven The following sentence in exact wording: In case of complaints about the quality of the briquette, please contact the German Pellet Institute GmbH (info@depi.de) and keep the rest of the opened small cask waterproof for a possible later analysis. Print in Arial, font size 12. In products for the German market, print the same sentence in German: Bei Beschwerden über die Qualität der Briketts, wenden Sie sich bitte an die Deutsche Pelletinstitut 10

13 GmbH und bewahren Sie den Rest des angebrochenen Gebindes wasserdicht für eine eventuelle spätere Analyse auf. 4.9 Auditing and Inspections Certified production plants are inspected once a year by a listed inspection body. In addition, samples are taken from traders that sell briquettes to end-users. The inspection in the certification option with sampling in trade is done through inspections of the reported dealers that sell briquettes to end-users. The inspections are ordered by the system support organisation. At least one sample is taken and analysed for each certified trading company. Each sample is analysed for the quality parameters mentioned in 5.4 and 5.2. In addition, each 10 th sample will be analysed for the content of trace elements mentioned in Table 3. The system support organisation reserves the right to do further testing, e.g. in case of complaints by end-users System of Sanctions In the assessment of established defects and the imposing of corresponding sanctions a distinction is made between: Defects in the surveillance report of a certified producer: DEPI makes additional claims and sets deadlines for the removal of defects. In case of nonfulfillment, the certificate will be revoked. Production-related defects (e.g. contaminations, short-weight, excessive ash or moisture) in inspections in trade: The certified trading company makes a recall of the respective batches. No products from the affected production facility will be traded as certified ENplus-Briquettes, until an inspection report by a listed inspection body confirms a correct production. In addition, the certified trading company is obliged to let at least one more registered producer, selected by DEPI, be inspected by a listed inspection body. The certified company bears the inspection cost. In case of nonfulfillment the certificate is revoked. Defects related to transport and storage (e.g. absorption of moisture because of inadequate storage) in inspections in trade: DEPI sets deadlines for the removal of defects. After three incidents of defects that are established to have been caused by the certified dealer, he can be excluded from the system. After payment of a penalty fee (amount of up to tenfold the fee for presses >800kg/h), he can re-apply for certification. 11

14 5 PRODUCT QUALITY The requirements for the product properties are taken from EN and are further specified in terms of properties and the raw material. 5.1 Origin of Raw Material The classification of the raw material follows EN In variation from that, no chemically treated raw materials and no waste wood are allowed. Table 1: Allowed raw materials for the production of wood briquettes Stem wood ENplus A Chemically untreated wood residues ENplus A Whole trees without roots Stemwood Logging residues Bark Chemically untreated wood residues 5.2 Essential properties Table 2: Minimum requirements for essential quality parameters Property Unit ENplus A1 ENplus A2 Dimensions mm Diameter, width & length to be stated Moisture w-% Ash w-% a) 0,7 1,5 Particle density g/cm 3 1,0 0,9 Additives w-% a) 2 (Type & amount to be stated) Calorific value MJ/kg (kwh/kg) 15,5 ( 4,3) 15,3 ( 4,25) Nitrogen w-% a) 0,3 0,5 Sulphur w-% a) 0,03 0,04 Chlorine w-% a) 0,02 0,03 Surface (incl. hole) cm 2 Should be stated 12

15 5.3 Trace Elements Table 3: Limit values for the content of trace elements Unit ENplus A1 ENplus A2 Arsenic mg/kg a) 1 Cadmium mg/kg a) 0.5 Chromium mg/kg a) 10 Copper mg/kg a) 10 Lead mg/kg a) 10 Mercury mg/kg a) 0.1 Nickel mg/kg a) 10 Zinc mg/kg a) 100 Burning time b) min Should be stated a) dry b) Burning time is defined as of one briquette that is put on a basic firebed in an oven with a thermic output of 3 kw according to EN Shape The shape of briquettes must be named according to Figure 4. If the produced/traded briquettes do not correspond to any of those shapes, the certification body decides approval on the basis of a small cask that is submitted together with the application. Figure 4 Classification of wood briquettes by shape (Shape A: can be longer than figure, Shape C: tetragon, hexagon and octagon also possible) 13

16 6 SUSTAINABILITY REQUIREMENTS Certified and registered producers have to document the sources of the raw material and inform the system support organisation about the percentage of raw material from certified sources (FSC, PEFC) in the annual report. 7 SCHEDULE OF FEES The annual fee for the ENplus-Briquettes certification is composed of a licence fee and in case of inspection in trade a fixed rate for analysis. The annually licence fee is calculated from the number of presses and their production capacity. Certified producers have to pay licensing fees for each press installed that is suitable for the production of certified Briquettes. Certified trading companies have to pay licensing fees for the presses of their registered non-certified suppliers. The fee is calculated on the number of presses and percentage of production from the registered producers that is bought by the certified trading company. The costs for the annual sampling and analysis are covered by a fixed rate for analysis. For each registered producer one rate for analysis is charged. The costs for extraordinary inspections are paid by the certified company in case nonconformities were found. If no defects were found, the costs are covered by the system support organization. The licensing fee and the fixed rate for analysis can be found in the in the latest version of the Schedule of fees for ENplus Certification of wood briquettes. 14

17 8 ANNEX 1: EXAMPLES FOR THE PRODUCT DECLARATION (INLET) Figure 5 Example of an inlet for ENplus A1 briquettes for the German market Figure 6 Example of an inlet for ENplus A1 briquettes for English speaking markets 15